IQASL is a project sponosored by the Swiss Federal Office for the environment to quantify shoreline trash along swiss lakes and rivers in the Rhone, Aare, Ticino and Linth/Limmat catchment areas. This is accomplished by conducting multiple small scale and discrete litter surveys throughout the river bassin. The majority of samples are taken from lakes.
What is a litter survey?
A litter survey is the identification and count of all objects found within a delimited area, in this study all surveys were bordered on one side by water. Each object is placed into one of 260 categories¹. The location, date, survey dimensions and the total number of objects in each category is noted.
Purpose of the surveys
The survey results help ALL stakeholders identify the items that make up the mass of trash found in the natural environment on the shores of Swiss lakes and rivers. The surveys answer the following questions:
These are the most frequently asked questions and should be considered when determining any mitigation or reduction strategies.
The project is based on the following assumptions:
Purpose of this report
Summarize the survey results for the municpality and define the magnitude of those results with respect to other locations in the river bassin and the aggregated national results.
The survey results are presented as follows:
Contents of this report
Scope: description of the survey area
Municipal results, survey dimensions, locations, aggregated totals
Trash removed: most abundant objects
Trash removed: the most often and abundant
Trash removed: utility and material
More information
For more information about the project visit project home.
If you would like more information specific information about this survey area please contact:
¹ The EU guide on monitoring marine litter
² There is most likely more trash at the survey site, but certainly not less than what was recorded.
³ Independent observations : stats stackexchange
Material type The material type is determined based on the classification in the the guide on monitoring marine litter.
Utility: The utility type is based on the utilisation of the object prior to it being discarded. Objects are placed into to one of the 260 categories. Those categories are grouped according to utilisation.
For example, a piece of plastic would be placed into the category 'Fragmented plastics', depending on its size. However, a piece of plastic that was once a bucket and we know this because we are familiar with either the brand or the product, is placed in a code for buckets⁸.
⁸ See the annex for the complete list of objects identified, includes category and group classification
Contact hammerdirt.ch for any questions about the content of this report. If you would like a report for your municipality contact the Swiss federal office for the environment: Municipal waste section.